“Every day is an opportunity for each swimmer to learn something new, whether it is inside the pool or outside of it, and the girls really seem to have fun in the process,” Coach Russo said, calling the team “an honor to work with” and saying “there is not a better group of girls I would rather coach.”

The swim meets looked different from this year to last, with the pandemic making some deep changes. Each competition had the girls swimming in three lanes of the pool, getting their times measured, and then sending them in to be compared with other teams. One of the team captains, senior Kerry O’Brien, said that “it is much easier to swim fast when you have the competition present in person, but this didn’t stop us from giving everything we had every race.” This is corroborated by sophomore Megan Tseng, who said that “The team pulled through and we had a great season!” Even if things were different than previous years, the ability to have a swim season at all is a major accomplishment.

O’Brien spoke of how the team adapted to these differences, and how there were no major complications that had slowed the team or the season down. She also added: “One thing I love about the East Brunswick High School swim team is that everyone is so positive and kind to one another, so when we were all faced with the adversity of COVID, I think that it brought the team together even more than usual.”

With strength and resilience, the girls worked to take each meet by storm, accomplishing their goals in this new kind of season.